FRESH Media Podcast interview with owner, JC Valle.
Horror films have evolved with the improvement of technology, but they have also been rebooted, sequelled, and imitated. Horror film producer JC Valle is going against the grain to create films from what he feels is missing in the film industry and concoctions of his imagination. In our interview, you'll find out exactly what inspires JC Valle and why he gravitates towards horror filmmaking. Listen to the full interview below or at FRESH Media TV!
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Check out our interview of JC Valle and his horror filmmaking below:
Welcome to the Fresh Media podcast. I'm so excited because this is the very first episode of this podcast and this episode I'm going to be interviewing Jose Baez, who is the head creator and owner of Mushroom House Productions. He creates a lot of cool thriller and horror type of films, and I first met him in a Houston Creatives group on Facebook. I'm very excited because he's very passionate about the work he does. So let's get into it!
What inspired you to become an artist?
What inspired me to be an artist? I've always been interested in the arts. When I was a little kid, I. I always said that I was going to be a painter. I've always wanted to be a piano player.
I don't take piano cause I've always been interested in film as well. When I was a kid back in the day, I was talking like –– it's like early nineties when you would see movies on the TV. There was always like the special features, you know, like the behind-the-scenes and, you know, the magic of movie-making.
I can remember all the other shows that there were after the film. And I would always like say, you know, to see like, oh, how did they make it, you know? Or how do they make it possible for somebody to transform into a monster or whatever? So I think it was more of my curiosity that started it all and the sense of film to get inspired and be like, 'Oh, I want to do that!'
Like, that looks fun! Well, it's interesting. It's like magic, but in real life, you know? I guess it all started with the whole moviemaking magic behind the scenes and then that made me inspired to become like an artist. Explore the options of, you know, expressing artistry, painting, and filmmaking.
What would you say is your favorite film of all time? If you have one?
When I was a kid and I'm talking about maybe five years old, some aunts, loved horror and they always watched films either Friday or Saturday. So I want to say a horror marathon of like two or three movies. And they sat us down with them to watch once. And I remember watching The Exorcist.
I didn't get scared, probably because I didn't get what was going on. But I do remember watching that movie and I was like, something's happening and people are getting upset about this. The Exorcist came out again and we're like, these remastered special features and all these things?
I saw it and I was like, I didn't get scared because of course I already had seen it way back. It sounds really silly, but I thought to myself, 'Wow, this is like hardcore. You know, movie making back in the day, this film was made like in like the early seventies and it has like really good, you know, special effects, like practical special effects, not even CGI.
From the story and high development and everything that happens, you can see the transition. From when the girl is so cute and innocent up until she's like the demon. Then the new version when she's coming, like walking backward down the stairs and all these things and she's like, floating, like, just blew my mind!
It's a horror film and you're talking about, you know, demons and possessions and the whole ambiance of the film and the elements that they bring into creating that tension and the audience. So, I mean, as a filmmaker, I can appreciate all of those elements, and also as a filmmaker, it's really hard for me to get scared because I know little tips and tricks and how to jump, scare, or create tension.
So when I see a movie, I can spot, oh, this is a jump scare or this is kind of like a, you know, like one of those moments where they kind of lower the volume and they set up in it and nothing's happening and everything's like hush-hush. Then bam! The Exorcist is definitely one of my all-time favorites.
Tell me about your production company, Mushroom House Productions. What kind of films do you guys make and what inspires you guys to make the stuff that you make?
Yes. So Mushroom House Productions started back when I first started film school and this was in 2016. So it's a really small company. It's more of a who wants to collab with me as creatives and filmmakers.
I'm pretty active in the film community here in San Diego. Mushroom House Productions is pretty much just me and whoever wants to join and, you know, make my stories happen. I usually do horror films or films that have to do with like suspense, thriller, mystery, you know, psychological thrillers type of thing.
And once I reach a certain status of as a filmmaker in the sense of, you know, getting more investors involved or people that want to support me and my films or make films happen, then I want to venture a little bit into like fantasy maybe, or sci-fi and fantasy gaming. Like stories about wizards and dragons and, you know, fairies and all these, you know, different universes or universes or worlds that take us a little bit away from reality. I think that storytelling should be that, you know, a way of taking us out from where we're at in this moment of life and not only entertain us, but also delivering some sort of message that you can carry with you and learn from it.
So who inspired you to Well, I know you have your favorite movies that you showed me, but are there certain filmmakers that you looked up to or is it just like your favorite films that you model your projects after?
I had a conversation with a friend and because she was like, oh, have you seen this film and have you seen that film? And I'm like, nope, nope, nope. And she was like, You're a filmmaker and you don't know shows. And I'm like, yeah, I'm a filmmaker because I like telling stories!
I like to give my perspective on things of the world or certain situations or by storytelling, you know, exemplifying or giving examples of what it is that I would have done in a certain situation. I am not trying to follow a trend. Of course, I do see the movies and shows and series and stuff, but I am not an avid follower and it takes a lot for me to get caught up in a show that I'm like, oh, I'm super into it.
Are you trying to create what's missing, or focusing more on the storytelling that you're not seeing?
In a part. Yes. But I also want to create my own thing. I don't want to make a film and be like, oh, this guy is like Stanley Kubrick or whatever. It's an honor to be compared to such great names and things, but they've already done their thing. They have already done their style, their seal, their stories.
And that's probably what I want to say. I don't follow trends to be compared to somebody else. You know, I would rather actually be creating and getting inspiration from other sources. It's a bit contradictory that inspiration comes from watching more of what you like.
So do you have any events coming up, any future projects that people can be looking out for?
Not at the moment. I do it, however, in July, I got invited to the San Diego International Comic-Con to be on a panel. We spoke about the importance of sound in film. As a filmmaker, I thought that, yes, it was great. It was a full house. The former president of Studio Ghibli was there and I got to meet him.
He brought the panelists a bag of goodies from Japan. So it was super cool. And he's such a cool dude in real life. I played Pokemon Go with him too. So we are like in communication. He follows me on Twitter and he tweets about my stuff and retweets and things of that sort.
I got invited to several film screenings here in San Diego as well. I am writing my script and it's going to have a little bit of horror and a little bit of mystery. The more I write, the more ideas I have. But I don't know where it is going to take me.
It's a work in progress still. As far as projects, I am not shooting anything right now. I will, however, start creating my pre-production –– fundraising for my film, which I'm working on right now. So I can start executing that as soon as the script is done and I have a better idea of my budget and what it is that I'm going to need.
Where do you want people to find you? Social media website. Just give us all that information.
People can find me at Mushroom House Productions. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and I also have Twitter which is Mushroom House TV and YouTube.
Google my film, Not a Stranger, then that's me. And you know, as I say, you make sure to follow, click like, and subscribe!
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